Two games into Zach Parise’s tenure with the Minnesota Wild and it’s safe to say that everything is going well for him and the team.

Parise one-timed a pass from Pierre-Marc Bouchard for his first goal with the team in Minnesota’s 1-0 win over the Dallas Stars on Sunday. Goalie Josh Harding stopped 24 shots to earn a shutout in his first start since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

"It felt good to get one and get one early in the season," Parise said. "We did a good job. It was a tough game both offensively and defensively for us."

The left winger has spent the first two games on a line with Mikko Koivu and Dany Heatley. One of Parise’s main tasks will be to help Heatley rediscover his 40-goal scorer touch. So far that has been successful as Parise’s two assists in Saturday’s win over the Colorado Avalanche came on two goals scored by Heatley.

Parise admitted on Saturday that he was nervous to play in his first game at home with his new team. But those nerves have yet to show themselves on the ice.

Arguably the top free agent last summer, Parise signed a 13-year, $98 million contract to come home to Minnesota after spending the first seven years of his career with the New Jersey Devils.

Last season, as the Devils’ captain, Parise played in all of the team’s 106 games en route to an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. In the 2010-11 season, Parise had played in just 13 games due to a meniscus tear in his right knee.

Expectations are high in Minnesota following the additions of Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter, who signed an identical contract to that of Parise. Based on the Wild’s 2-0 start, the team is not having trouble living up to what is expected of it in the early going.

RANGERS OFF TO SLOW START

The start of the shortened season has not gone as the New York Rangers would have liked, and the Broadway Blueshirts find themselves off to a 0-2 start.

The Rangers followed up a 3-1 loss on Saturday at the Boston Bruins with a 6-3 loss at home to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"It's not an individual thing. As a group, we didn't have the fight level the past two games," Rangers head coach John Tortorella said afterwards.

Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist allowed four goals on 18 shots before being pulled by Tortorella for backup Martin Biron.

"I was not going to keep him in there, not with what was going on in front of him," Tortorella said.

Going into the third period of their loss against the Penguins, the Rangers had managed just two goals in five periods of hockey in 2013. However, the Rangers did show some signs of life on offense, striking for two third-period goals, including Rick Nash’s first goal with the Rangers.

Pittsburgh struck for two power-play goals. Neal got the first power-play goal and added an even strength goal later in the game. He now has three goals in two games. Evgeni Malkin added three assists (two helpers coming on the man-advantage) and Sidney Crosby added an assist as well.

YOUNG OILERS RALLY FOR WIN

Most of Edmonton’s key young players (most notably, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall and Justin Schultz) spent the lockout playing in the AHL with the Oklahoma City Barons. That time together was thought to give the young Oilers an edge coming out of the lockout, given the compressed training camp and practice time.

And for nearly two periods that theory looked to be dead against Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks. But down 2-0, Eberle scored with four seconds left in the second period to get Edmonton on the board.

Ales Hemsky’s power-play goal tied the game with 5:55 left in the game. Sam Gagner and Hemsky made quick work of Luongo in the shootout to give the Oilers’ a 3-2 win to start the season.

The top pick in the 2012 NHL Draft, Nail Yakupov, logged 16:20 of icetime, and while he registered a shot on goal, he was a minus-2 on the ice. Only Hall (an assist) and Eberle (a goal) recorded any points. But a win still gets the Oilers off on the right foot.

Eberle saw the comeback win as a big step for the young team.

“These one-goal games were our Kryptonite last year, it seemed like we were losing a lot of them,” Eberle said, according to The Edmonton Sun. “To come back in the third against a pretty good team is a big character win for us.”

Luongo made 30 saves on the night in the Canucks’ shootout loss and, for awhile, looked as if he was making a bid to reclaim his starting job. But the late goal to tie the game and Hemsky’s shootout winner through the five-hole, will likely mean the Canucks will continue to play musical goalies for awhile longer.

Meanwhile, last season’s top point-getter in the Western Conference continues to look for its first win.

The Oilers were one of four teams to not open the season on Saturday, with the Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks also opening their seasons on Sunday as well.

VANEK COMES OUT FIRING

A day after veterans Jaromir Jagr and Teemu Selanne had four-point games, Buffalo Sabres winger Thomas Vanek decided to join in on the fun and up the ante a bit.

Vanek was involved in every Buffalo goal in the Sabres’ 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Vanek scored two goals and added three assists while firing nine shots on goal.

Jason Pominville, Vanek’s linemate, also had a strong 2013 debut, adding three assists in the win. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff cited Vanek and Pominville’s chemistry in the postgame press conference.

"Ah, they spent a lot of years playing together. You go all the way back to their days in Rochester," Lindy Ruff said, referring to the two playing together in the American Hockey League 2004-05 season. "Those two guys are a little bit like glue."

Vanek was willing to throw the praise to others.

"Good linemates," Vanek said of his career-best outing. "And a little bit lucky at the same time."

For the Sabres to get back to the playoffs (after missing the postseason last season), they need Vanek to be on his game. Last season, he finished with 26 goals (his lowest goal total since his rookie campaign of 2005-06) and 61 points as Buffalo finished ninth in the Eastern Conference.

HOSSA’S REVENGE

In Marian Hossa’s first game against the Phoenix Coyotes since last postseason, the veteran winger scored his third and fourth goals of the season in the Chicago Blackhawks’ 6-4 win.

Hossa drew boos from the crowd of Jobing.com Arena but responded with his second-straight two-goal game.

"I can't expect two goals every night, but it's nice to have a good start," Hossa said.

Hossa was taken off on a stretcher in Game 3 of the Blackhawks’ Western Conference quarterfinal series against the Coyotes, a series the Blackhawks eventually lost in six games. That was a result of a hit from Raffi Torres that saw the Coyotes winger get a 25-game suspension that was later reduced to 21 games by the league. Torres has to sit six more games but will be eligible to play the next time the Blackhawks and Coyotes meet on Feb. 7.

Hossa recovered from his concussion all summer and was medically cleared in December. The length of the lockout certainly helped him to be ready to go at the start of the regular season.

So far, Hossa has looked good and showing no ill effects from the concussion he suffered. His strong play out of the gate has the Blackhawks at 2-0. In addition, Chicago leads the league in goals scored with 11, and Hossa is the early league leader in goals with 4.